How the MBAi led me to a career in generative AI

"I can confidently say, I’d do it all over again," says Alfredo Sone Sassi Buffa. Learn how an MBAi graduate is leveraging his degree to further his career.
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Kellogg
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Alfredo was one of the first students to graduate from the MBAi Program, a joint degree from Kellogg and the McCormick School of Engineering
“Recruiters were particularly captivated by the blend of skills and valued the cross-disciplinary nature of the program,” says Alfredo Sone of his MBAi degree.

This content was originally published in Poets&Quants.

By Alfredo Sone Scassi-Buffa ’23 MBAi

As one of the first students to graduate from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management’s MBAi program, an AI-focused MBA from Kellogg and the McCormick School of Engineering, I’m frequently asked how valuable the program is.

I can confidently say, I’d do it all over again. Here’s how I chose the MBAi, how it set me up for success, and where it’s taken me so far.

A knack for innovation

I graduated from the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile (PUC) with a bachelor’s degree in engineering Upon graduation. I started my professional career at Copec, a company that operates gas stations and convenience stores in Chile, Central America, and the United States. While there, I spent most of my time on the Digital Innovation team, where I worked first as a software engineer designing and developing products and services, and then as a zero-to-one product manager.

In this role, I led a team in finding, building, and launching new products and business unit. These included an app for transportation clients to pay at the pump and the convenience store and a ML model to predict customer churn (among others). I enjoyed bringing these concepts to reality. However, I felt that, to increase my impact, I needed to learn more about the business side of innovation as it takes more than just creativity to make a successful product.

I thought business school was the place to learn some of these skills and understand how companies beyond the fuel and convenience industries approach innovation. That is what motivated me to get an MBA. As an MBA student, I also wanted to remain connected to the technical aspects of innovation. The MBAi’s integrated curriculum was the ideal fit for that.

A student explains her project during the MBAi + MSAI Captone Showcase at Kellogg
MBAi students have the opportunity to work in hybrid teams to present solutions addressing real life business challenges from the school's corporate partners as part of their capstone project.

Recruiting in a brand-new program 

Recruiting for a summer internship started almost immediately upon beginning at Kellogg.

Like many of my MBAi classmates, I was interested specifically in recruiting into tech. The integrated nature of the MBAi, blending McCormick’s technical acumen with Kellogg’s business prowess, really allows you to stand out as a candidate in this space. Recruiters were particularly captivated by the blend of skills and valued the cross-disciplinary nature of the program. The classes are specifically designed for business leaders at the crossroads of AI and business that accelerate fluency in analytics and complex technologies. Through required core MBA courses like Strategy, Marketing, and Finance, the MBAi definitely helped me stand out as a well-rounded candidate.

As the corporate landscape is increasingly gravitating towards technology-driven solutions, I saw that companies were looking for individuals who can navigate both the technical and business sides of problems. Last year was a pivotal year for AI, as generative AI made it clearer how the technology can benefit companies by uncovering valuable new use cases. While the increased emphasis for creating personalized customer experiences grows, the demand for professionals who understand AI grows with it.

Machine Learning and Computational Thinking For Business is the first required course and helps students use a  leadership lens to understand how to develop strategies related to AI-driven projects. The class was very hands-on; we learned about the processes behind becoming attuned developers, built a conversational chatbot, supervised machine learning and more. With classes like this, the MBAi not only prepares you how to understand the impact AI will have but provides you with the deep knowledge of how it actually works.

I could see the value from my MBAi classes directly applied during my internship experience as a Product Manager at BCG X. As we built an ESG analytics tool for a Financial institution, I was able to converse fluently with the engineering team, understanding the constraints and possibilities of our solution. This ensured the product not only met the technical requirements but the business goals and customer needs too.

Read the original article in its entirety on Poets&Quants to hear more from Alfredo on life after graduation at BCG X and how experiencing the school's collaborative culture has better prepared him when engaging with cross-functional teams in his current role.